12 Dungeon Formation

With Hex stilled lazing around on his shoulders, Dango took a deep breath as he manipulated his cursed energy towards his heart. He felt his heart absorb his cursed energy at a rapid rate.

From the information transmitted during the pain, he learned that using Dungeon Formation consumed quite a bit of cursed energy just to create the smallest pocket realm possible.

Then, he heard a click inside his head and his surroundings immediately changed. He found himself in a cubic white room with black lines that outlined where the sides met each other.

Dango was shocked by his new surroundings. He knew that he was inside a pocket realm constructed out of his cursed energy. He had thought the technique would create the realm and establish a way to enter it, not create it with him as the center.

'So this is a pocket realm created by Dungeon Formation. Not what I expected. Doesn't look... dungeon-y? What can I do with this place?'

He also realized that Hex was pulled into the pocket realm along with him. It had crawled off his shoulder and was curiously exploring its new environment.

Ignoring Hex, Dango examined the cube-like pocket realm and figured out its measurements. The realm itself was approximately 125 cubic meters (5x5x5).

He walked up to one of the walls and place his palm on it. The wall was as smooth as it looked. He took his palm off the wall, reinforced it with cursed energy, and punched the wall with all his might. However, he failed to cause any damage to the wall.

'Am I that weak? Or are the walls that durable? Hm, I wonder...'

Dango placed his palm back onto the wall and let his cursed energy flow into the wall. When he removed his hand, he saw that there was now a black handprint.

That wasn't all, the black color of the handprint began to spread towards the rest of the wall. Within a minute, the affected wall was completely painted black.

'I can paint it? How much cursed energy did it take?'

[Cursed Energy: 3,744/3,749 (-500)]

'What the? It was at least four thousand just a while ago. Did it get lowered because my technique created a pocket realm? I hope it's not permanent, dang! It already took 500 units just to create this realm!

He refreshed the meter a couple of times, but the (-500) remained, making Dango think that he won't have access to that 500 CE units as long as the realm is up.

'Does the amount of cursed energy consumed by my technique affect the size of the realm? Five meters in length, width, and height cost 500 CE, would it take 1000 CE for 10 meters? This is going to get expensive quick.'

Asides from that, Dango noticed how there was a five-point decrease in the cursed energy meter.

'Five units per side? Since it's not in parentheses, then it should regenerate over time?'

Curious to the extent he could 'paint,' Dango sat on the floor and started to let his cursed energy flow into the ground. However, it didn't stop there, the cursed energy continued moving to the walls and finally to the ceiling. As he is doing so, he thought of the color blue.

A blue reminiscent of the ocean started to dye the walls, starting from the cube-shaped pocket realm's edges. Dango glanced at his meter and confirmed that each side did cost 5 units of cursed energy. By 'painting' each side blue, it consumed 30 units.

Dango continued to repeat what he did but this time closed his eyes as he tried to think of an image rather than a color. When he sensed that the realm's appearance started to change again, he opened his eyes.

Unlike before, each side began to blur, even the floor he was sitting on. After a minute or so, the blur stopped and the painting was finished.

Dango's surroundings had become very different.

The floor was now made of wood along with the ceiling. The four walls were replaced with four panes of glass as fishes and all types of aquatic life swam behind them. Dango had changed the originally solid blue room into an aquarium.

Dango was mesmerized by his new surroundings. He touched the floor and could feel the wooden texture. He touched the glass and felt its cool temperature. He watched how the life behind the glass looked so real and beautiful.

Hex was also fascinated by the change. It watched the fish behind the glass as its saliva fell to the floor.

Dango went up to one of the glass walls and slammed his cursed-coated fist on it while commanding Hex to do the same. As expected, the glass was undamaged.

He then took a look at the meter and was surprised that the change only consumed 30 units despite the intricate appearance.

=====

For the next half hour, Dango continued to change the appearance of his pocket realm and discovered several noteworthy things.

First; He could only change the realm's appearance. He couldn't replicate the special nor harmful effects associated with what he had imagined. For example, he didn't float and could still breathe when he imagined being in space.

Second; There existed invisible barriers if he imagined a place without walls, a floor, and or a ceiling. Just like the previous example, he still found himself inside an invisible cube.

Third; It was possible to change the shape of the pocket realm as long as it retained the same number of cubic meters. He could turn the realm into a pyramid, a sphere, or some weird shape. To change the realm's shape, it consumed 10 units of cursed energy.

Fourth; He couldn't interact with any creatures if they were imagined and accessible. When he imagined himself in a pet shop, he couldn't touch the animals. If he did so, they would immediately disperse and reappear nearby. Surprisingly, imagining such creatures didn't cost any extra cursed energy.

Fifth; He couldn't wield any imagined weapons, to attack or defend, or tools, to build or destroy. He found that if he tried to do so, they would either disperse completely or harmlessly phase through things. Similar to the previous noteworthy thing, imagining any weapons and or tools didn't cost any extra cursed energy.

Other than that, Dango figured out that it took twenty seconds to recover one point of cursed energy. He did wince in imaginary pain as it was a bit slow considering how much cursed energy his technique took up.

=====

Dango was currently lying down on the floor. He had reverted the realm to its original, blank appearance as he found it peaceful.

He laid there, just staring at the ceiling in silence, contemplating what he learned.

'Dungeon Formation... When I first read the description, I was confused why it was called that. Originally, I thought Pocket Realm Formation would be a more fitting name. But now I kinda see it.'

'This is a realm that I constructed out of my cursed energy. Within it, I can manipulate the interior appearance of the realm. Calling it a pocket realm is inaccurate. This place is more like a dungeon where I am the boss monster or dungeon master.'

'Following that logic... What would a dungeon constructed out of raw negative emotions be like? From negative emotions, cursed energy is born. When the emitted cursed energy collects like sediment, a cursed spirit is born from that collective negative energy. Then would that mean, I would create a dungeon that houses a cursed spirit?'

(A/N: cursed energy = negative energy)

'Should I try to construct one now? If I used a minimum amount of negative emotions to create it, I should be able to handle it. Either a gradeless or a grade one. I guess I should leave then.'

He stood up and picked up Hex from the ground. When he first inspected his surroundings, he knew that there was no apparent way to leave the realm. Thankfully, the information transmitted during his pain had also told him out to leave them.

It was simple. He only needed to say something with the intent of leaving.

"Let me out."

The moment the last word left his mouth, he found himself back inside his house. Nothing seemed to have changed while he was gone.

As Hex wriggled itself out of Dango's clutches and prepared to go asleep, Dango checked his cursed energy and sighed in relief.

[Cursed Energy: 3,609/4,249]

'Phew, it didn't permanently decrease it. I guess the realm I created is gone now. I wonder if there is a way to keep intact whenever I leave it? Like a pseudo-inventory.'

'I'll experiment with that later. Time to create a cursed spi- Wha?'

Just as Dango was about to use Dungeon Formation, he and Hex heard someone knocking on the front door. They looked at each other for a moment, both understanding what they needed to do.

Dango quietly disappeared into the darkness, utilizing his [Intermediate Hiding] to blend in with it. Also, using [Intermediate Searching], he tried to see if he could find any clue to the possible intruder. While he was hiding, Hex silently crawled towards the front door.

The intruder knocked on the door several more times before stopping. Dango then heard Hex call out to him, signaling that the intruder was now inside. Thankfully, if someone couldn't see a cursed spirit and be aware of them, they wouldn't even hear the spirits even if they spoke directly in their ears.

Immediately, a voice called out to him, "Dango? Are you there?"

Dango narrowed his eyes as he found the voice familiar, but he couldn't figure out where he heard it. Was it his neighbors? Were they still here? Or was it some old, perverted man who just happened to learn his name?

He patiently got ready as the intruder got closer and closer. Once they were in the same room together, Dango immediately recognized the intruder.

Stepping out of his hiding spot, he curiously looked at the man in front of him, "Mister Jiraiya? Is that you?"